In view of the increasing sales dynamics in online retail, city centres and retail properties are currently undergoing profound changes in their use. Stationary retail is reducing its demand for space, department stores are closing, shopping centres are losing their tenants – the functions within the city centres are being re-mixed. The retraction of retail stores from city centres offers the opportunity for other uses: living, offices, leisure and culture or hotels. Over the last 25 years, Germany has had extensive experience regarding the conversion of former department store properties. The buildings are being less frequently re-used as pure shopping destinations. Instead, hybrid, multifunctional re-uses are increasing, especially since 2015. Redevelopment for new uses is time-consuming and technically complex, but generally feasible in the existing buildings. It extends the period of use of the properties through sustainable re-use. The experience gained from the redevelopment of abandoned department stores in Germany can be of value to other countries that are confronted with department store closures (United Kingdom, Netherlands) and can even be used for the redevelopment of shopping malls.
Zusammenfassung
Einzelhandel findet heute nicht nur in den Stadt- und Stadtteilzentren bzw. in den Einkaufszentren am Rande der Städte statt, sondern zunehmend auch im Internet. Der Beitrag untersucht, welche Determinanten ausschlaggebend sind, im stationären Einzelhandel bzw. im Online-Handel einzukaufen. Die Ergebnisse basieren auf einer Befragung von rund 2.900 Personen in den sechs nordrhein-westfälischen Stadtregionen Aachen, Bochum, Bonn, Dortmund, Münster und Köln. In Abhängigkeit der Entfernung zur jeweiligen Innenstadt wurde in insgesamt 26 Untersuchungsgebieten befragt. In allen sechs Stadtregionen zeigt sich, dass nicht die räumlichen, sondern ausgewählte demographische und sozioökonomische Faktoren das Einkaufsverhalten bestimmen. Das Geschlecht, das Alter und die Lebensstile spielen beim Online-Einkauf eine wesentliche Rolle, das Einkommen ist keine beeinflussende Größe.
Digitalisation is leading to fundamental changes in the German retail sector and the city centres as places of trade. Traditional forms of business such as department stores have significantly reduced their branch networks. Their conversion poses major questions not only for the property owners but also for the municipalities concerned. As key properties, the buildings are of particular relevance for the reorientation of the inner-city use structure. In view of the reduced importance of retail in inner cities, it is discussed how the transformation of these properties can increase the resilience of city centres. Therefore, we conducted a systematic literature analysis on urban and retail resilience and derived ten dimensions for resilient city centres. We applied the ten dimensions and related criteria in the analysis of five selected case studies in Germany and assessed that new, innovative and flexible re-uses could be realised in the former department stores, increasing the multifunctionality and robustness of the city centres. The conversion of the buildings is not only sustainable from the perspective of climate and resource efficiency, but also contributes to the preservation of the local building culture and the identification of the citizens with the inner city.
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